There is only a year left before December 21, 2012, when some believe the Mayans predicted the end of the world.

The image of the beach resort of Acapulco has taken a new hit from Mexico’s drug violence, with 27 people killed in less than a day, including 14 men whose bodies were found with their heads chopped off at a shopping centre.

Police in Mexico today found the headless bodies of 14 men outside a shopping centre in the Pacific coast resort of Acapulco.

Showbiz friends and fans of singer Kirsty MacColl will perform tonight to mark the 10th anniversary of her death in a freak speedboat accident and raise money for one of her favourite causes.

Tropical Storm Karl dumped heavy rains on the Yucatan Peninsula today as it moved toward the Gulf of Mexico, where it is expected to pick up steam and become a hurricane threatening Mexico’s central coast by the weekend.

A strong Tropical Storm Karl made landfall on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula today, hitting a sparsely populated stretch of Caribbean coast, while two Category 4 hurricanes roared further out in the Atlantic.

A strengthening Tropical Storm Karl is nearing Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula today, bearing down on the resort beaches of the Mayan Riviera.

DINOSAURS were wiped out by an asteroid the size of the Isle of Wight that hit the Earth with the explosive power of a billion atom bombs, scientists have concluded.

Forty people have died in El Salvador following three days of heavy rains, Interior Minister Humberto Centeno said today.

Experts were today trying to identify the decapitated bodies of 12 men found in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero.

Hurricane Dean limped across Mexico today as a weakened tropical depression, but still dumped torrential rains that flooded rivers and drenched mudslide-prone mountains.

A sprawling Hurricane Dean slammed into Mexico for the second time in as many days and quickly stretched across to the Pacific Ocean, drenching the central mountains with rain that swelled rivers before weakening into a tropical storm.

Hurricane Dean raked the Mexican mainland Wednesday and battered evacuated oil platforms, forcing thousands to flee as it regained some of the force it unleashed on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Hurricane Dean swept across the Yucatan peninsula, toppling trees, power lines and houses as it bore down on the heart of Mexico’s oil industry.

Hurricane Dean ploughed into the Caribbean coast of Mexico today as a roaring Category 5 hurricane, lashing ancient Mayan ruins and heading for modern oil installations.

Hurricane Dean strengthened into a 160mph Category 5 storm capable of catastrophic damage today, as its first rain and winds began hitting the coasts of Mexico and Belize.

Cayman Islands imposed a curfew and evacuated tourists as the British territory today faced Hurricane Dean, a powerful storm leaving a trail of destruction across the Caribbean.

Hurricane Dean barrelled across the eastern Caribbean today and took aim at Hispaniola, Jamaica and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, with forecasters saying it could turn into a monster Category 5 storm within 72 hours.

Hurricane Dean roared through small Caribbean islands today, tearing away roofs, flooding streets and killing three people.

Residents began fleeing the Florida Keys and parts of the United States mainland today as Hurricane Wilma headed towards Florida.

Hurricane Wilma pounded the Mexico coast today as terrified tourists sought shelter from its furious winds and rain.

Desperate tourists, trapped after Mexico’s Cancun airport closed, shuttled from luxury hotels to emergency shelters ahead of Hurricane Wilma, which forecasters say is growing stronger.

HURRICANE WILMA’S outer edge battered Cancun’s white-sand beaches yesterday as officials ordered guests out of hotels, tourists jockeyed for spots on the last flights out, and tens of thousands of people from Honduras to the Florida Keys evacuated ahead of the “extremely dangerous” storm.

The governor of Florida today declared a state of emergency ahead of approaching Hurricane Wilma, but the state got a little breathing room when the storm’s slower pace postponed its likely landfall.

Thousands began fleeing Florida once again today as Hurricane Wilma hurtled towards the US coast.

Monroe County officials have ordered visitors out of Florida Keys ahead of Hurricane Wilma, the first US evacuations caused by the Category 5 storm.

Hurricane Emily swept over the Yucatan peninsula early today, snapping whole rows of concrete power lines in half, flooding some streets with knee-deep water and shattering ground-floor windows.

Howling wind and rain from Hurricane Emily lashed beaches in the Mexican resort of Cancun today, after thousands of tourists, many of them Britons, were evacuated from their hotels to improvised shelters at schools and gymnasiums.

A massive evacuation of tourists in one of the world’s biggest resorts was set to begin today, as hundreds of buses were dispatched to move tens of thousands out of the path of Hurricane Emily.

APPREHENSIVE coastal residents from Florida’s Panhandle to Louisiana started boarding up windows, packing and hitting the road as powerful Hurricane Ivan headed for the Gulf Coast after ploughing across Cuba.

Apprehensive coastal residents from Florida’s Panhandle to Louisiana started boarding up windows, packing and hitting the road today as powerful Hurricane Ivan headed for the Gulf Coast after ploughing across Cuba.

A plane carrying 16 US tourists and three crew members on a visit to Mayan ruins crashed in the state of Yucatan yesterday. All aboard died.

A huge Caribbean storm is already nearing Hurricane force as it heads towards Mexico.

Tropical Storm Chantal appears to be bypassing Jamaica, moving instead toward Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.